StandupinStilettos’ Christina Pazsitzky on Emasculating Hecklers

As part of their global expedition exploring what makes things funny, professor Peter McGraw and writer Joel Warner are grilling humorists about the science behind scoring laughs. The Humor Code chronicles their adventures, scientific experiments and unintentional comedy along the way. Learn more about McGraw, Warner and their escapades at HumorCode.com.

Folks are a-twitter over all the ladies taking over comedy these days. Chelsea Handler. Amy Sedaris. Kristen Wiig. Lena Dunham. Does this mean the women of comedy are finally getting their due?

Probably not, considering we’re still asking questions like this.

Take Christina Pazsitzky. The comic was a writer and round-table regular on Chelsea Lately and is one of the comedians featured on the new all-female stand-up series Standup in Stilettos, which premieres Saturday on the TV Guide Network. But please, don’t call her a “girl comic.” She hates it. And the label doesn’t do her justice.

After all, she’s also a TV celebrity, having been a cast member on MTV’s Road Rules Australia and hosted the FX series The Hitchhiker Chronicles. And she’s an animator, writing and doing voice work for projects like the film TV: The Movie and the television series Trolls.

Wired: Were you born funny, or did your funniness come from practice and development? Does good comedy have to come from a screwed-up childhood?

Christina Pazsitzky: I’d say I was born with the ability to be funny, then honed it through a screwy childhood and adolescence. I honestly don’t know why anyone who didn’t come from a troubled childhood would choose stand-up comedy as a career path. It’s full of the same emotional patterns that are in a bad childhood: the approval/disapproval cycle, financial instability, loneliness, moving place to place. It just kind of continues the same crap I grew up with — which is why it feels so right.

Wired: What are the biggest misconceptions about what you do?

Pazsitzky: That it’s easy. Everyone thinks they can be a comedian but they don’t know there’s a vast difference between telling a joke to your buddies and getting onstage in front of a ton of people. It’s a skill like any other. Just like a carpenter, it takes years to hone your craft and get good. For some reason, people feel challenged and threatened by what we do. That’s why they yell out and heckle during a show. Yet they wouldn’t yell out at a theater performance. Why? Because they feel they can do what you do as a comic — and they’re usually hammered.

Wired: In your opinion, what makes a good comedic performance space? What makes a bad space?

Pazsitzky: The ideal space is a small room made of brick with low ceilings. The audience all faces one direction — towards you, and they’re not chomping on nachos. The sound is great, lighting is bright, but not blinding you to the point of not being able to see the crowd. I need to see the disappointment on their faces.

Things that make a shit room: The bar is in the back of the showroom so you can hear all the daiquiris being blended, ice being crushed, orders being yelled, etc. The servers talk loudly to the patrons taking orders. Patrons eat seafood or some type of cumbersome food during your show. Patrons are allowed to talk, yell, whistle, be on their cellphones during your set and nobody polices the room.

But the thing that ruins stand up the most is DRUNK AUDIENCE MEMBERS! I hate when clubs let in the drunks who have been going at it since 5 p.m. that night and it’s now 11 p.m. and they’re hammered. They don’t listen to jokes, they are disruptive and ruin any ability for me to be vulnerable up there.

Wired: What is the worst heckling you’ve ever experienced? How do you handle hecklers?

Pazsitzky: I had a beer bottle thrown at me once. I like to shame the heckler early on. From the first peep I emasculate them. Since it’s usually men, I say, “Shhhhh, Mommy’s trying to tell jokes now.” Then if it gets worse, I’ll lay into them harder. If the heckler is female, I have an easier time laying into her. Because she likely won’t get pissed and want to hit me.

Wired: How could the comedy industry do better at finding/fostering/promoting new talent?

Pazsitzky: When you’re starting out, this industry wants you to fail. It dares you to keep going. There’s a handful of clubs that treat feature acts and MCs like garbage. It’s so stupid because today’s MC and feature is tomorrow’s headliner and they’ll remember how they were mistreated. Comedy is a game of attrition. Whoever has the severe emotional problems to stay and persevere will make it.

– – –

Pazsitzky will appear in Standup in Stilettos, which premieres at 10 p.m. Saturday on the TV Guide Network, and in Showtime’sLive From Amsterdam, which airs July 5. To read more of the interview with Pazsitzky, as well as learn more about McGraw, Warner and their escapades, go to humorcode.com.

Here’s The Thing With Ad Blockers

We get it: Ads aren’t what you’re here for. But ads help us keep the lights on. So, add us to your ad blocker’s whitelist or pay $1 per week for an ad-free version of WIRED. Either way, you are supporting our journalism. We’d really appreciate it.